TEAM BUILDING PROCESS
Nidoking!!
Has always been a favourite of mine and even though its ideally a UU pokemon I wanted to build a team
that would give Nidoking a chance to do some damage in the OU tier. From there I assembled some pokemon that I thought would compliment the team well. Was originally planning to have a sticky webber on the team. Due to Nidokings average speed stat it is often outclassed by a lot of pokemon in the OU tier. But alas I do not have one. It's still something I am highly considering as I am relying on u turns and volt switches to get Nidoking in to favourable match ups where he can really do some damage. Now on to the team. He also punishes the bulky fairy mon that are roaming around on most OU teams which is fantastic.
THE SQUAD
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Fairly Standard Nidoking build. Sheer Force Life Orb is fantastic damage but I do sometimes feel a choice scarf could come in handy as he isn't the fastest mon?? Naive nature as I am running sucker punch over the more common flamethrower. I have found many situations where a fire type move would come in handy for those bulky steel and grass types that are floating around but I cannot complain with how useful sucker punch has been. I would say it isn't overly common on Nidokings and has allowed me to get revenge kills on faster pokemon like Gengar and Mega Alakazam or low hp pokemon that usually out speed me. Sludge Wave, Earth Power are common stab moves that hit for a ton of damage. Ice Beam is a great coverage move that rounds out the set. Like I said earlier unless I know I am faster than the opposing pokemon I am relying heavily on u turn and volt switch support to get Nidoking into favourable match ups where he can really work his magic.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 76 SpD / 44 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Endure
Defensive Garchomp I have fallen in love with since adding him to the team. Rocky Helmet x Rough Skin punishes physical attackers. Earthquake is stab to deal damage. Stealth Rock to help phase out Talonflame as he is a problem for this team outside of Garchomp. Dragon Tail to deal additional stealth rock damage to the opposing team. Endure to round out the set. Endure allows you to possibly last another 2 turns on physical revenge killers which leads to them losing anywhere between 25-75% of there health plus rocks depending on who comes in.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Very stock standard Latios build. The teams Defogger as well as hidden power fire to catch those scizors that try and force a switch. Not a lot to explain here.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Pain Split
Defensive bulky Rotom Wash was added as another means to deal with the premier physical attackers of the tier especially Landorus T who seems to give my team a lot of trouble when invested in max speed. Volt Switch for momentum, Hydro Pump is a great stab. Pain Split is fairly explanatory. I chose to run thunder wave over will o wisp so there was some speed control on my team to make Nidokings like a little easier. So far it has been very effective but I do believe Will o Wisp might be more useful especially for ,ax attack Landorus T.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
Ive loved banded Scizor ever since I added him to the team. Super Power to take down bulky steal types that resist his other attacks. U Turn for momentum as well as stab. Bullet Punch because Bullet Punch. Max attack banded technician Bullet Punch does a tremendous amount of damage to those who don't resist and is often my means of revenge killing and late game sweeping. Pursuit is fantastic for getting rid of pokemon such as Latios, Latias and other psychics that would usually try and switch out from scizor.
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Power-Up Punch
Last but not least. Mega Lopunny. Mega Lopunny has been quite hit and miss for the team but when its worked its worked. I quite often find myself leading with Lopunny as I don't really have any other leads on the team. Fake Out is great for getting off some free damage. Return and High Jump Kick are stab. I opted for Power Up Punch for Ice Punch as Lopunny quite often causes a switch and means I can get a free attack boost if i predict correctly. I do concede that Ice Punch could definitely be more useful over Power Up Punch although it has allowed me to sweep on multiple occasions in my climb to 1600.
CONCLUSION
So far I have been quite happy with how my team performs. I do have quite a few holes but with some good prediction and decision making I have been able to cover up the majority of those so far. The biggest hole would definitely be my lack of a special wall and have considered adding Clefable to the squad. Im also quite sceptical about Mega Lopunnys position on the team although my problems might come from the move set I'm running. One of the biggest problems for the team would be Landorus T as i really only have Rotom that can wall and deal with it effectively. Im also lacking a reliable lead as I often rotate between Lopunny and Garchomp with the bulk of my success coming with a Lopunny lead.
Thanks to all those who read and would love for any feedback I could get and further climb up the OU Ladder.
Nidoking!!
Has always been a favourite of mine and even though its ideally a UU pokemon I wanted to build a team
that would give Nidoking a chance to do some damage in the OU tier. From there I assembled some pokemon that I thought would compliment the team well. Was originally planning to have a sticky webber on the team. Due to Nidokings average speed stat it is often outclassed by a lot of pokemon in the OU tier. But alas I do not have one. It's still something I am highly considering as I am relying on u turns and volt switches to get Nidoking in to favourable match ups where he can really do some damage. Now on to the team. He also punishes the bulky fairy mon that are roaming around on most OU teams which is fantastic.
THE SQUAD
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Fairly Standard Nidoking build. Sheer Force Life Orb is fantastic damage but I do sometimes feel a choice scarf could come in handy as he isn't the fastest mon?? Naive nature as I am running sucker punch over the more common flamethrower. I have found many situations where a fire type move would come in handy for those bulky steel and grass types that are floating around but I cannot complain with how useful sucker punch has been. I would say it isn't overly common on Nidokings and has allowed me to get revenge kills on faster pokemon like Gengar and Mega Alakazam or low hp pokemon that usually out speed me. Sludge Wave, Earth Power are common stab moves that hit for a ton of damage. Ice Beam is a great coverage move that rounds out the set. Like I said earlier unless I know I am faster than the opposing pokemon I am relying heavily on u turn and volt switch support to get Nidoking into favourable match ups where he can really work his magic.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 76 SpD / 44 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Endure
Defensive Garchomp I have fallen in love with since adding him to the team. Rocky Helmet x Rough Skin punishes physical attackers. Earthquake is stab to deal damage. Stealth Rock to help phase out Talonflame as he is a problem for this team outside of Garchomp. Dragon Tail to deal additional stealth rock damage to the opposing team. Endure to round out the set. Endure allows you to possibly last another 2 turns on physical revenge killers which leads to them losing anywhere between 25-75% of there health plus rocks depending on who comes in.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Very stock standard Latios build. The teams Defogger as well as hidden power fire to catch those scizors that try and force a switch. Not a lot to explain here.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Pain Split
Defensive bulky Rotom Wash was added as another means to deal with the premier physical attackers of the tier especially Landorus T who seems to give my team a lot of trouble when invested in max speed. Volt Switch for momentum, Hydro Pump is a great stab. Pain Split is fairly explanatory. I chose to run thunder wave over will o wisp so there was some speed control on my team to make Nidokings like a little easier. So far it has been very effective but I do believe Will o Wisp might be more useful especially for ,ax attack Landorus T.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
Ive loved banded Scizor ever since I added him to the team. Super Power to take down bulky steal types that resist his other attacks. U Turn for momentum as well as stab. Bullet Punch because Bullet Punch. Max attack banded technician Bullet Punch does a tremendous amount of damage to those who don't resist and is often my means of revenge killing and late game sweeping. Pursuit is fantastic for getting rid of pokemon such as Latios, Latias and other psychics that would usually try and switch out from scizor.
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Power-Up Punch
Last but not least. Mega Lopunny. Mega Lopunny has been quite hit and miss for the team but when its worked its worked. I quite often find myself leading with Lopunny as I don't really have any other leads on the team. Fake Out is great for getting off some free damage. Return and High Jump Kick are stab. I opted for Power Up Punch for Ice Punch as Lopunny quite often causes a switch and means I can get a free attack boost if i predict correctly. I do concede that Ice Punch could definitely be more useful over Power Up Punch although it has allowed me to sweep on multiple occasions in my climb to 1600.
CONCLUSION
So far I have been quite happy with how my team performs. I do have quite a few holes but with some good prediction and decision making I have been able to cover up the majority of those so far. The biggest hole would definitely be my lack of a special wall and have considered adding Clefable to the squad. Im also quite sceptical about Mega Lopunnys position on the team although my problems might come from the move set I'm running. One of the biggest problems for the team would be Landorus T as i really only have Rotom that can wall and deal with it effectively. Im also lacking a reliable lead as I often rotate between Lopunny and Garchomp with the bulk of my success coming with a Lopunny lead.
Thanks to all those who read and would love for any feedback I could get and further climb up the OU Ladder.